Sensei Katsutaka Tanaka is an 8th degree black belt in Nihon Karate-Do Kenwa Kai, a World Karate-Do Federation (WKF) 7th degree black belt, and a USA Karate 7th degree black belt. Sensei Tanaka is both a World Championship Kata and Kumite Referee for the WKF, which has over 144 countries as registered members today. He is also one of four members of the USA Karate Referee Council. Sensei Tanaka began his study of the martial arts in 1960. He attended Nagoya-Gakuin University, in Nagoya, Japan. In 1966, while on the university karate team, Sensei Tanaka took 2nd place in the Central Japan Karate Championship and went on to take first place in the championship in 1968. In 1969, Sensei Tanaka founded Tanaka’s Martial Arts Academy and in 1973 founded the Alaska Karate Championship. In 1970, he began teaching karate for the University of Alaska, Anchorage (UAA), and in 1974 enrolled in UAA in order to earn a B.B.A. in Accounting in 1976. Since 1976, Sensei Tanaka has given his full attention to the building up of his own martial arts academy and to the development and promotion of karate in Alaska. For this dedication, Sensei Tanaka received a special award from the Alaska Legislature in 1980, and again in 1995 from the Governor of Alaska.
